While all clinics in Gweru are managed and staffed by qualified and experienced nursing personnel, the routine work carried out by medical volunteers still provides important support. Assistance with observations of general nursing and midwifery duties; observation of education initiatives and assisting with non-nursing duties such as cleaning, bed making and medication packaging for their patients, allows volunteers to experience working in the clinics while freeing up staff to concentrate on frontline healthcare.

The experience of working at Mkoba Polyclinic can leave a lasting impression on volunteers:

Amalie, from Norway, said: ‘Today was my last at the clinics. It was spent at Mkoba Poly; my favourite clinic. My stay here has been fantastic and so different. I could not have been more grateful for this experience and I will remember it for the rest of the life. Thank you.’

Another Norwegian volunteer, Ida, was equally enthusiastic about her visits to the Clinic: ‘This was my last day to work in the clinics and we were at Mkoba Polyclinic. This is the biggest and busiest clinic and the one I like the best. I assisted one of the nurses in the dressings room and we attended to many wound dressings. In the afternoon, I assisted with injections on babies and adults. It has been very interesting to see the differences between Norway and Zimbabwe. It really puts things in perspective and makes me appreciate what we have in Norway.’